PYEONGTAEK, South Korea/NEW YORK -- Samsung Electronics CEO Koh Dong-jin looked pale when he accompanied his boss, Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, to a meeting with South Korea's finance minister in early August.
Koh, in charge of the company's IT and mobile communications sector, had a concerned look on his face and did not smile during the group photo session at the company's new semiconductor production base in Pyeongtaek, 65 km south of Seoul. The 57-year-old engineer, who has spent most of his three-decade career in developing mobile phones, is now under enormous pressure to turn around the company's smartphone business that has been struggling with challenges from Chinese competitors.
